Motor shaped as a roller

Abstract

A motor comprising: (a) one or more motor stators including a plurality of motor windings; (b) a roller shaft connected to the one or more motor stators, the roller shaft extending along a longitudinal axis of the motor and being adapted to span between two frame members; and (c) a motor rotor including: (i) a roller tube including a key, a key recess, or both, and (ii) one or more ring magnets having: (1) a mating surface shaped to substantially mate to a mating surface of the roller tube and (2) a key recess that receives the key of the roller tube, that receives a separate key that extends into the key recess of one of the one or more ring magnets and the key recess, or both; wherein the one or more ring magnets are produced from a rare earth metal; and wherein the motor rotor carries a load of an article so that the article is moved by the motor rotor.

I claim: 
     
       1. A brushless DC motor comprising:
 a. one or more motor stators including a plurality of motor windings; 
 b. a roller shaft connected to the one or more motor stators, the roller shaft extending along a longitudinal axis of the brushless DC motor and being adapted to span between two frame members; and 
 c. a motor rotor including:
 i. a roller tube of magnetic material, the roller tube including a key, a key recess, or both, and 
 ii. one or more ring magnets magnetized radially with multi poles, the one or more ring magnets having:
 1. a mating surface shaped to substantially mate to a mating surface of the roller tube and 
 2. the one or more ring magnets being made of neodymium, iron, and boron (NdFeBr) or Samarium and Cobalt (SmCo) and being formed through sintering or a hot press process; and 
 3. a key recess that receives the key of the roller tube, that receives a separate key that extends into the key recess of one of the one or more ring magnets and the key recess, or both; 
 
 
 and, wherein a plurality of bearings are located between the roller tube and the roller shaft so that the roller tube and the roller shaft are movable relative to each other. 
 
     
     
       2. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more ring magnets are made of two or more segmented arc shaped magnets, each of the two or more segmented arc shaped magnets including a first mating end and a second mating end, and a first mating end of one of the two or more segmented arc shaped magnets is bonded together at a second mating end of a second of the two or more segmented arc shaped magnets to form ring magnets. 
     
     
       3. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the key is an integrally formed part of the mating surface of the roller tube that spans all or a portion of a length of the roller tube parallel to the longitudinal axis of the motor to engage the key recess of the one or more ring magnets. 
     
     
       4. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein a pattern of magnetization of the one or more ring magnets is a parallel pattern, a skewed pattern to the longitudinal axis, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
       5. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more ring magnets are spaced apart and free of contact between one another during installation, during running, or both. 
     
     
       6. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the brushless DC motor includes one or more controllers connected to the plurality of motor windings, the one or more controllers having one or more positions sensors to determine movement of the motor rotor relative to the one or more motor stators at a starting position and during running. 
     
     
       7. The brushless DC motor of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more position sensors are a Hall Effect sensor, a resolver, an encoder, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
       8. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the brushless DC motor includes one or more controllers connected to the plurality of motor windings, the one or more controllers being free of position sensors to determine movement of the motor rotor. 
     
     
       9. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the brushless DC motor includes one or more controllers located outside of the roller tube and mounted to one of the two frame members. 
     
     
       10. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the brushless DC motor includes one or more controllers located outside of the roller tube and mounted on a remote location plate and being free of mounting on the two frame members. 
     
     
       11. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the roller shaft is hollow from end to end and includes holes on the side inside the motor to allow air, liquid, gas, or a combination thereof, to reach and cool the motor. 
     
     
       12. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the motor has a plurality of motor stators mounted on the roller shaft and electrically connected to each other and controlled by a single controller or independent controllers. 
     
     
       13. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein a proximal end, a distal end, or both of the roller shaft are shaped substantially hexagonally to be received by a substantially hexagonally shaped inner diameter of the plurality of bearings. 
     
     
       14. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the motor has a plurality of motors stators mounted on the roller shaft, and each stator is controlled by a separate controller. 
     
     
       15. The brushless DC motor of  claim 2 , wherein a number of radially magnetized poles on the one or more ring magnets is not equal to a number of arc segments in the one or more ring magnets. 
     
     
       16. The motor of  claim 2  wherein the two or more segmented arc shaped magnets are not touching each other, and a space between the two or more segmented arc shaped magnets is filled by molding material. 
     
     
       17. A conveyor system comprising:
 a. one or more transfer devices; and 
 b. a plurality of rollers including:
 i. one or more master rollers, wherein the one or more master rollers are the brushless DC motor of  claim 1 ; and 
 ii. one or more slave rollers in communication with the one or more master rollers by the one or more transfer devices. 
 
 
     
     
       18. A belt conveyor system, wherein the belt conveyor system includes one or more transfer devices that are a conveyor belt extending over one or more master rollers that are the brushless DC motors of  claim 1  and one or more slave rollers so that the one or more master rollers and the one or more slave rollers are located inside of the conveyor belt. 
     
     
       19. A treadmill system with one or more brushless DC motors of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more brushless DC motors drive a treadmill belt with the treadmill belt going over the one or more brushless DC motors and one or more support devices. 
     
     
       20. The brushless DC motor of  claim 1 , wherein the brushless DC motor includes three or more bearings on the roller shaft with one located at each end of the roller tube and remaining bearings being located between the ends of the roller tube, wherein some of the three or more bearings have a flexible sleeve between an inner diameter of the three or more bearings and the roller shaft, some of the three or more bearings including a flexible sleeve between an outer diameter of the three or more bearings and a bearing housing, or both.